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Fifteen
Someone pounded onmy hotel door and I thought for a second there was a fire or an earthquake as I jolted out of sleep. It was four a.m. and I had been hoping to get a few more hours before I had to rouse the cheerleaders and chaperons and get them on a shuttle to the airport.
Somehow I stumbled to the door and got it open without hurting myself.
“Whaaa?” I said as Dom stood outside my door, fully dressed.
“The baby is coming. I have to get on a red eye flight. Heath is meeting me there. I have to go.” His eyes were wild and frantic, and that roused me into wakefulness.
He had to get to the airport, now.
“Okay, did you pack?” He looked at me as if I’d spoken another language. “Come on.”
I took him back to his room and started throwing shit in his suitcase. Even though I’d told him to pack the night before, he hadn’t. Whatever, it didn’t matter. I got everything I could find in his suitcase, made sure he had his wallet, called him a car and told him to get his ass downstairs.
“You’re having a baby!” I said, throwing my arms around him. “You’ve got this. Please update me on everything. I’ll handle the squad. Give Heath a hug for me.”
He still looked a little bewildered when I shoved him into a car that was set to take him to the airport.
Unable to get back to sleep, I paced around my room and double checked my suitcase and tried to watch TV until it was time to knock on all the cheerleader’s doors and get them up and ready to go.
“Dom had to leave so you’re stuck with me,” I said as I took in the sleepy faces. They did not want to move, so I encouraged them to use the little coffee makers in their rooms and I would look the other way. That helped to pep them up a little and I also ran downstairs and got some bagels and handed those out.
Somehow, we all managed to get on the shuttle and to the airport with plenty of time to get everyone through security. I didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until everyone was in their seats on the plane and we were taking off.
I did it.
The seat next to me was empty, since it was reserved for Dom, so I let myself stretch out and relax, putting up the arm rest and laying on my side to rest.
The next thing I knew, the flight attendant was shaking my shoulder and telling me that we were landing. I didn’t know what it was about planes, but I always fell asleep, no matter what time the flight was.
Back to Maine, back to reality. The cheer season was over. I tried not to cry as I hugged all the kids and sent them back home when we got back to Corsica. Mack cried on my shoulder and I held her tight.
“I’m going to miss you all, and I know I speak for myself and Dom. You have all taught me more than I could ever teach you.”
At least I waited until I was in my car to really break down. When I walked through the door, the kitties attacked me and I nuzzled their fur and put my face on their bellies and that helped me feel a little bit better.
“I missed you little assholes,” I said, rolling around on the floor with them. The three of them meowed and pawed at me and stuck to my side for the rest of the day. They liked to let me know I was never allowed to leave them again. I promised I wouldn’t, but I kept my fingers crossed behind my back. I had my girl’s night in Portland in two weeks, and then my vacation with Katie and Penny next month that I was very much looking forward to.
